Our immunohistochemical results clearly demonstrated the occurrence of growth hormone receptors (GH-R) in the tumour cells of lipomas and liposarcomas. In liposarcomas staining intensity in the cytoplasm of tumour cells varied between weak and distinct but could not be correlated to the histological grade of the malignant tumours. These findings were corroborated to some extent by the RT-PCR results. RT-PCR analysis of human lipomas and liposarcomas revealed the amplified cDNA fragment of GH-R in 8 out of 12 lipomas but only in 3 out of 10 liposarcomas. The reduced number of GH-R positive tumours found with PCR may be explained by the extraction method of RNA from paraffin sections. An interesting finding was the distinct immunoreactivity of the endothelium of blood vessels in liposarcomas, which was especially pronounced in the newly forming capillaries. This points to an important role of GH-R in tumour angiogenesis which could significantly contribute to tumour growth in liposarcomas and may open the possibility for therapeutic intervention using antiangiogenic substances.

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